HARARE - Zimbabwes blood bank has just one third of the supplies it required the latest statistic that reveals a deepening crisis in the national health sector, reports said Saturday. The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) has just 1,000 units of blood nstead of the requisite 3,000 units, spokesman Emmanuel Masvikeni told the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
In case of any crisis, the blood is not adequate, said Masvikeni. He said the situation would worsen when school pupils, who contribute 75 per cent of blood to the blood bank, go on holiday ahead of elections on March 29. Zimbabwe has high rates of HIV/AIDS and children are considered a safer source of blood, although all blood is screened before being sold to hospitals.
The NBTS was encouraging adults to support a noble cause by donating blood to boost supplies, state radio said Saturday.
This is the latest crisis to hit Zimbabwes health sector, battered by economic challenges that include inflation of more than 100,000 per cent, frequent power outages and chronic shortages of hard currency to import medical drugs. Last week, Deputy Health Minister Edwin Muguti confirmed that the countrys biggest hospital Harares Parirenyatwa Hospital had stopped carrying out surgical operations due to shortages of anaesthetic drugs and sterilising agents.
In January, it emerged that 50 per cent of medical drugs were out of stock in pharmacies in Harare. The head of the Pharmaceutical Society of Zimbabwe said then that most pharmacies could not afford to import drugs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2008 00:00 ||
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Won't be the last bank in Salisbury to run dry.
Israel made Tavor assault rifles have begun to appear in Indian administered Kashmir, with Indian troops using these in operations against guerrillas in the region. The rifles developed by Israel for usage in urban warfare, are part of the India's strategy to modernise its army, especially while dealing with insurgencies in the country.
On Friday Indian troops in southern district Shopian of Indian administered Kashmir were seen holding TAR-21 (Tavor Assault Rifle for 21'st century). The rifle which costs around US $6500 is one of the most modern assault rifles available in the world. Tavor uses the compact Bull pup design and has improved hit accuracy. It can accommodate a 30 round magazine and sustain a rate of fire of 750 - 900 rounds per minute. The 2.8 kg dark green Tavor rifle is also designed for night fighting.
The army hopes that its ergonomics, reliability in heat and sand, and fast-point/ fast-shoot design might give them an edge in close-quarters shootouts and employment from inside vehicles. The army hopes to have an edge over insurgents armed with AK rifles. The Tavor rifles were designed by Israel Military Industries (IMI, now TAAS) company, in close cooperation with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during 1990's.
In 2002 India signed a deal with Israel for the purchase of 3070 Tavor assault rifles worth US $ 20 million. Army is on a modernisation spree and is trying to replace its aging weaponry particularly. Israel too has replaced their Colt M4/M16 rifles with compact Tavors. The consignment of these rifles was given to Indian army after a long delay.
After signing the deal, Israel Military Industries (IMI) had only initially supplied 350-400 TAR-21s without grenade launchers to India's northern Special Frontier Force (SFF). The rifles were declared 'operationally unsatisfactory' and India also claimed damages for delay. However new supplies with improved designs followed.
According to reports, India currently has seven Special Forces battalions, which according to the army's newly released doctrine, will be employed for specialised tasks behind enemy lines, to fight insurgencies in Indian administered Kashmir and the northeastern states.
Some of these forces were trained by the Israelis in anti-insurgency operations, official reports said. IMI had also supplied around 130 Galil 7.62 sniper riles and around 450,000 rounds of ammunition to the SFF and the army for $1.4 million in 2005. It also showed interest in the newer version of Tavor Micro/ MTAR (9mm version) for its special forces and parachute regiments.
India is trying to replace the outdated World War II Stenguns and other similar weapons still in use with the army, paramilitary units and state police forces.
Georgia, Portugal and Israel are the only other countries that use variants of the Tavor rifle.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2008 13:30 ||
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Hmmmmm. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/02/2008 20:37 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
